Friesia is not just an unusual rose with its clear yellow, but has a wonderfully strong scent. We have one near the front gate and the scent, which spread 2 or 3 houses down the street, as I walked from the station in the evening was a great welcome home.
It comes and goes @Piglet. We have just entered a climatic cycle known as La Nina, which usually means wetter weather than the average, and the last few days seem to be living up to that, after a very warm start to the season.
Am I right in getting the impression that your Spring isn't happening quite as soon as you'd like?
Piglet, it's probably better to say that mid-Spring started around a half dozen weeks ago, and kept going until this week, when we went back to late winter/early Spring.
To add info from NZ from their National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research on La Nina:
More north–easterly winds are characteristic, which tend to bring moist, rainy conditions to the north–east of the North Island, and reduced rainfall to the south and south–west of the South Island.
We're having a few cool days up here in the mid-North Island currently.
Nor' easterly - otherwise known as the beasterly Easterly - cold and horrible. Last night I kept on heaping blankets on my bed - and they didn't seem to make much difference. I may have to look out the hoodie I wear to bed on really cold nights. Yesterday I thawed a bacon hock for soup, which is now bubbling on the stove.
The nor-easter is usually welcomed (at least along the NSW coast) as it brings a cooler breeze after hot day - the hotter the day, the stronger the breeze. It can be too strong though and cause damage, as well as problems for small yachts and sailing dinghies.
The weather in Melbourne is predictably unpredictable as usual, which has been one constant during this year of the long lock down. Today it was sunny with light rainfall and thunder and lightning all at once for about 20 minutes. Hope those in QLD and NSW aren't badly affected by storms or hail.
Finally we are getting some freedoms and I am praying things continue on with cases being very low to almost non-existent. Now I have to relearn how to socialise in person. I want to catch up with people, but am not in a huge rush as it hasn't quite sunk in that we can catch up with more people outside. We can visit in homes, but the rules are complicated as a household only has one visit with one other household per day and each household member has to share the one visit with all other household members. I'm in a sharehouse so if one of my housemates goes to someone's house, I can't on the same day, plus whoever I visit cannot have any of their households visiting somebody else on that day either. I'm looking at meeting up with my sisters and their families outdoors first as I live near my parents and have already been able to go on walks with them. One brother and his family is in the regions, where we are still barred from going. The other lives a bit further away in Melbourne so I will probably see him once the 25km rule goes.
Another bright spot was Melbourne sports teams somehow managed to win the AFL, Rugby League and netball premierships this year, despite not being able to play games at home. Too bad I barrack for the Brisbane Lions (after my Melbourne team Fitzroy merged with the Brisbane Bears) with Geelong as my second team though.
What a balmy day in the capital yesterday - longjohns were somewhat of an overkill as I sat in the sun (but planes are always to o cold ... except when they're not). A long day though ... former shippie Piers Ploughman accidentally woke me at 02:23 when he got his time zones mixed up, and I didn't' get to shut my eyes again until 21:00. It took, oooh, 0.05 of one nanosecond to fall asleep.
Buggered this morning though, and on the road again today. Fortunately not driving as I'm accompanying The Boss (on a nasty expedition), otherwise many powernaps would be needed.
Sun is shining on our house, but a thunderstorm has been rattling over the hills only a few kilometres to the east of us. The rain has been intermittent throughout the week as predicted. After many months of work and three different contractors, the town church roof has been reduced from major leaks to two or three tiny flows. Just waiting a call from the latest expert to see if we can finish the job and make the building watertight again. The perils of a mid-60's building with an almost-flat roof.
Short, sharp quake, unpleasant, but unless it is centred somewhere else, not damaging. I disagree that it was slight which is what \i read on Quake live.
Thanks for the weather info, folks - I imagined that north-east winds in the Southern hemisphere would have the same effect as south-west ones here, as they'd be coming from nearer the Equator. Shows how little I know, eh?
Thanks for the weather info, folks - I imagined that north-east winds in the Southern hemisphere would have the same effect as south-west ones here, as they'd be coming from nearer the Equator. Shows how little I know, eh?
I think north-east in the south would equate to south-east in the north. Picture the globe.....
Due to the system taking me to the next post from the last one read, Zappa's post - which was all I could initially see on the screen, had me wondering if the Anglican church in his city had developed a new liturgy - the Water Mass -I sometimes wonder about my brain.🙄
Or taking a detour to the local lake to bless the baptismal water at the Easter Vigil. (Yes rather a muddle of ecclesiastical traditions, I know). Rather unfortunately, in the lectionary the Gospel of Jesus walking on the water is on 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time which is usually sometime in August, and rather chilly and damp in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, as it would otherwise be the ideal occasion.
An update on the wedding arrangements.
We are now up to 75 guests and are yet to hear from 5!! The congregation was informed this morning and all were very supportive. I was a bit apprehensive of telling them but I had no need to be afraid. Just one person didn't applaud, think he might have been asleep!!
Good call. When Kuruman and I got married in a northern NSW city in early October it was white tie - hence a jacket too. Aforementioned nameless city decided to turn on a 40C day. It was a little warm inside that jacket inside a packed (boast boast) church. My brother, who had flown in from Edinburgh, was particularly aware that he was not in Kansas (metaphorically speaking) anymore.
Isn't 40° the threshold where you discard your thermals?
I'm reminded of the wedding in Newfoundland of a girl in the choir; it certainly wasn't 40°, but it was probably the mid-20s, and very muggy. I felt sorry for for the gentlemen of the bridal party in their heavy morning coats - in fact I understand they all snuck off for showers in between the ceremony and reception, and I don't blame them one bit.
I was chatting to a neighbour today and discovered I had read the wrong information about the quake that I mentioned upthread. It was shallow (5 metres deep) and less than 2km from our houses. No wonder I felt it so strongly.
Thanks Firenze - I knew the shallower ones were more destructive, but I had forgotten why. I once joked to someone that I'd like it experience one 5cm above ground and got a very strange look.
And many of our quakes in the Christchurch sequence were shallow. The most damaging (but not the strongest) quake that was in Feb 2011 was only 5km deep. It had both horizontal and vertical movement, which was why it was so destructive. It too was about a couple of kms away, but in the other direction.
The best earthquakes are the ones I sleep through at night. Apparently unless they are severe enough to destroy the house, in bed with the pillow over your head is a fairly safe place to be. I no longer sleep in a bed with a bookcase attached. nor with things that can fall off the wall onto the bed. I need to move away from the windows too. According to studies from the Kaikoura* quake more women than men were injured, possibly getting up to check on children.
*Kaikoura is a small town that is about 2 hours north of here. They have various marine tourist attractions such as whale watch and yummy crayfish.
Another bright spot was Melbourne sports teams somehow managed to win the AFL, Rugby League and netball premierships this year, despite not being able to play games at home. Too bad I barrack for the Brisbane Lions (after my Melbourne team Fitzroy merged with the Brisbane Bears) with Geelong as my second team though.
I too am a Brisbane supporter, and would have loved to see them back in a Grand Final, especially because it would have been wonderful to have the Lions play it on their home ground.
I’m a bit like the All Blacks supporters, who barrack for the ABs and anyone playing the Wallabies - if I can’t cheer on the Lions, I’ll always support any team playing against the Swans or the Tigers. I was very sad to see the Cats lose.
Despite living in Melbourne for best part of a decade I have no understanding of or interest in that strange game they play there - the one where they wear extraordinarily tight pants, punch the ball, aim scoring kicks at four sticks instead of two (sort of "yee ha" and "oh well" depending which ones the ball passes through), et cetera. Nevertheless to have conversations in that city one has to have some sort of allegiance so I chose a team called Essendon.
In rugby league (which I grew up thinking was a game played as a training exercise for real rugby) I don't even know the teams' names, though I think one is something to do with some aquatic bird. I believe NZ and OZ may have national teams but know nothing about them, or even what colours they wear in international comps.
In the round ball game I can't help knowing that there are some games that go on (seemingly daily) in the northern hemisphere, as the Zapplets are fanatics; again I randomly chose a team called Everton because it started with an E like Essendon. That helped me remember who I "supported."* I don't even know which town they come from let alone whether they're good a bad win-wise. They never seem to get mentioned in the news.
But then I'm somewhat of a social illiterate and (rugby, rowing and netball past careers aside) sports and films and music are all sort of an amorphous mass of meaningless white noise on my radar.
*"Barracked" incidentally is not a word I ever heard until I moved to Oz in 1982.
Years ago, when Radio NZ played the British Football results on Sunday morning straight after a news bulletin my family all chose a team to follow. I chose a team from Scotland called Queen of the South simply because I liked the name.
I was thinking along the lines that 5m deep would be so shallow that the force would not spread. I can understand that one 5 km would be much more devastating.
Years ago, when Radio NZ played the British Football results on Sunday morning straight after a news bulletin my family all chose a team to follow. I chose a team from Scotland called Queen of the South simply because I liked the name.
Queen of the South (from Dumfries) is, I think, the only Biblically named team. And they have been around so long that quite possibly the namers had the reference to the queen of Sheba in their minds as well as wanting to point out that they were proud to be from the south of Scotland.
Scottish footie teams have wonderful names - especially those not in the top flight!
Who could forget the late, great James Alexander Gordon's rendition of:
Forfar 5 - East Fife 4
or the headline in The Sun when Inverness Caledonian Thistle unexpectedly knocked Celtic (who were two divisions above them) out of the Scottish FA Cup:
My small brothers (in the 1960s) were always impressed that there was (as heard by them over the radio) an English football (soccer) team known by the rude name of Arse-ernal.
Geographically, probably one of the London teams - probably Tottenham Hotspur.
David and I had several teams whose fortunes (or otherwise) we followed:
Colchester (where he was born)
Inverness (where I was born)
Ipswich (his father had a season ticket)
Norwich (Ipswich's local rivals)
Cowdenbeath (a clergyman friend was an avid fan)
Bristol Rovers (David had been a student in Bristol)
Stirling Albion, whose manager for a time was one Kevin Drinkell, who had once played for Rangers, and is a distant cousin of David's*.
Neither of us was an actual football fan, but there was something about the way the results were read out on the BBC that kind of drew us in.
* When we moved to Belfast, the boys in the choir were very impressed.
Piglet - Radio New Zealand ( or whatever it was called back then) played a direct recording of the results read on the BBC. When just highlights were give as part of the news it definitely wasn't the same, and Queen of the South was never mentioned,
Final results from the NZ elections today mean that Labour have one more seat, as does the Maori Party which now has two seats. The Maori Party have the distinction of having been been the only party to win a seat that was formerly Labour.
Comments
Climacus Blackberry nip also has a lovely scent and it lasts when picked.
Not that I am suggesting you pick roses in a public garden.
The yellow rose is Friesia, it has a bright colour.
I thought the white rose I have was Avalanche, but it is the wrong shape.
.
Piglet, it's probably better to say that mid-Spring started around a half dozen weeks ago, and kept going until this week, when we went back to late winter/early Spring.
We're having a few cool days up here in the mid-North Island currently.
Finally we are getting some freedoms and I am praying things continue on with cases being very low to almost non-existent. Now I have to relearn how to socialise in person. I want to catch up with people, but am not in a huge rush as it hasn't quite sunk in that we can catch up with more people outside. We can visit in homes, but the rules are complicated as a household only has one visit with one other household per day and each household member has to share the one visit with all other household members. I'm in a sharehouse so if one of my housemates goes to someone's house, I can't on the same day, plus whoever I visit cannot have any of their households visiting somebody else on that day either. I'm looking at meeting up with my sisters and their families outdoors first as I live near my parents and have already been able to go on walks with them. One brother and his family is in the regions, where we are still barred from going. The other lives a bit further away in Melbourne so I will probably see him once the 25km rule goes.
Another bright spot was Melbourne sports teams somehow managed to win the AFL, Rugby League and netball premierships this year, despite not being able to play games at home. Too bad I barrack for the Brisbane Lions (after my Melbourne team Fitzroy merged with the Brisbane Bears) with Geelong as my second team though.
Buggered this morning though, and on the road again today. Fortunately not driving as I'm accompanying The Boss (on a nasty expedition), otherwise many powernaps would be needed.
Sorry to read of the lack of sleep and a nasty expedition, Zappa -- hope it goes as well as it can.
Huia - now I'm picturing Zappa in full clerical fig, celebrating Mass on the sea shore, with his feet in the water ...
We are now up to 75 guests and are yet to hear from 5!! The congregation was informed this morning and all were very supportive. I was a bit apprehensive of telling them but I had no need to be afraid. Just one person didn't applaud, think he might have been asleep!!
Our trousers are similar and we are not wearing jackets or ties!
I'm reminded of the wedding in Newfoundland of a girl in the choir; it certainly wasn't 40°, but it was probably the mid-20s, and very muggy. I felt sorry for for the gentlemen of the bridal party in their heavy morning coats - in fact I understand they all snuck off for showers in between the ceremony and reception, and I don't blame them one bit.
Shallow quakes are the more damaging: the deeper the quake, the more the energy dissipates before reaching the surface.
And many of our quakes in the Christchurch sequence were shallow. The most damaging (but not the strongest) quake that was in Feb 2011 was only 5km deep. It had both horizontal and vertical movement, which was why it was so destructive. It too was about a couple of kms away, but in the other direction.
The best earthquakes are the ones I sleep through at night. Apparently unless they are severe enough to destroy the house, in bed with the pillow over your head is a fairly safe place to be. I no longer sleep in a bed with a bookcase attached. nor with things that can fall off the wall onto the bed. I need to move away from the windows too. According to studies from the Kaikoura* quake more women than men were injured, possibly getting up to check on children.
*Kaikoura is a small town that is about 2 hours north of here. They have various marine tourist attractions such as whale watch and yummy crayfish.
I too am a Brisbane supporter, and would have loved to see them back in a Grand Final, especially because it would have been wonderful to have the Lions play it on their home ground.
I’m a bit like the All Blacks supporters, who barrack for the ABs and anyone playing the Wallabies - if I can’t cheer on the Lions, I’ll always support any team playing against the Swans or the Tigers. I was very sad to see the Cats lose.
Or, as my late Beloved would have said*, "I don't really care who wins as long as someone stuffs the Welsh".
* with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek
In rugby league (which I grew up thinking was a game played as a training exercise for real rugby) I don't even know the teams' names, though I think one is something to do with some aquatic bird. I believe NZ and OZ may have national teams but know nothing about them, or even what colours they wear in international comps.
In the round ball game I can't help knowing that there are some games that go on (seemingly daily) in the northern hemisphere, as the Zapplets are fanatics; again I randomly chose a team called Everton because it started with an E like Essendon. That helped me remember who I "supported."* I don't even know which town they come from let alone whether they're good a bad win-wise. They never seem to get mentioned in the news.
But then I'm somewhat of a social illiterate and (rugby, rowing and netball past careers aside) sports and films and music are all sort of an amorphous mass of meaningless white noise on my radar.
*"Barracked" incidentally is not a word I ever heard until I moved to Oz in 1982.
I was thinking along the lines that 5m deep would be so shallow that the force would not spread. I can understand that one 5 km would be much more devastating.
Queen of the South (from Dumfries) is, I think, the only Biblically named team. And they have been around so long that quite possibly the namers had the reference to the queen of Sheba in their minds as well as wanting to point out that they were proud to be from the south of Scotland.
Who could forget the late, great James Alexander Gordon's rendition of:
Forfar 5 - East Fife 4
or the headline in The Sun when Inverness Caledonian Thistle unexpectedly knocked Celtic (who were two divisions above them) out of the Scottish FA Cup:
Arsenal
Scunthorpe
Manchester f****** United
I'll see myself out.
I was born in Edgware ... should I change my allegiance?
Geographically, probably one of the London teams - probably Tottenham Hotspur.
David and I had several teams whose fortunes (or otherwise) we followed:
Colchester (where he was born)
Inverness (where I was born)
Ipswich (his father had a season ticket)
Norwich (Ipswich's local rivals)
Cowdenbeath (a clergyman friend was an avid fan)
Bristol Rovers (David had been a student in Bristol)
Stirling Albion, whose manager for a time was one Kevin Drinkell, who had once played for Rangers, and is a distant cousin of David's*.
Neither of us was an actual football fan, but there was something about the way the results were read out on the BBC that kind of drew us in.
* When we moved to Belfast, the boys in the choir were very impressed.
Final results from the NZ elections today mean that Labour have one more seat, as does the Maori Party which now has two seats. The Maori Party have the distinction of having been been the only party to win a seat that was formerly Labour.